Shoe Assembly with Provision for Adding Decorative Elements

ABSTRACT

A shoe with a sole and an upper with closed eyes extending radially from the sole on each side near the front portion of the upper. Decorative accessories, such as straps having open-ended hooks are selectively engageable with the eyes for changing the appearance of the shoe.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser.No. 61/705,940, filed Sep. 26, 2012, the subject matter of which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the technical field of footwear. Moreparticularly, the present invention is in the field of interchangeableattachments that can be added to footwear.

BACKGROUND

Footwear is generally constructed with a sole which has aground-contacting surface and a foot-receiving surface, a heel which maybe flat, raised, or somewhere in between, and an upper or vamp, which isthe front portion of the shoe that surrounds the toes and instep regionof the foot.

As the upper portion of the shoe is typically the most visible portionof the shoe, it is consequently the portion that is the most decorativeor which is designed to receive or mount decorative elements.

Rather than buying multiple pairs of shoes to acquire a different lookin one's footwear, accessories have been developed to change orcustomize the upper portion of shoes. For example, the patent toEpstein, U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,311 teaches a footwear construction havinginterchangeable decorative straps secured to the sides of the upper byhook and loop fasteners, which have covers when they are not in use, orby the use of protruding open hook members to secure the decorativestrap members.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,359 to Bricker teaches an interchangeable shoe strapsystem in which a permanent foot-retaining strap is covered with one ofthe halves of a hook and loop fastener. The underside of theinterchangeable decorative straps is covered with the other half of thehook and loop fastener for mating with the permanent strap.

The U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0266506 to Barteetteaches a shoe assembly in which interchangeable straps for the instepand heel portions are secured to the base of the shoe with snapfasteners.

Despite these and other prior art teachings, and given the expenseparticularly of dress shoes, there remains a need in the art for anunobtrusive and relatively inexpensive means to provide for aninterchangeable decorative strap and fastener system for footwear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present system allows multiple types of decorative straps to beattached and removed from the front portion of a women's shoe utilizinghook and eye attachments with the eyes being secured at or near the areawhere the sole and upper of the shoe come together on the front portionof the shoe and the hooks being secured on each end of the decorativestrap. The attachment mechanism is less visible, provides for a moresecure attachment, and is not involved in supporting the foot, as it isfor decorative purposes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the shoe portion of the presentsystem;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the front shoe portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the decorative strap portion;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the decorative strap portion ofFIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the decorative strap attached tothe shoe.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The shoe comprises a sole 1 and an upper 2. An eye portion 3, whichcomprises one part of a fastening means is attached between the sole 1and upper 2. The eye, which may also be attached solely to the sole orthe upper, projects radially from its attachment point, substantiallyperpendicular to the shoe.

The decorative strap 4 comprises a decorative accessory which can be ofvarying materials and design. A portion of this strap may contain anelastic material 5. Each end of the strap 4 has a hook portion 6 of thefastening means for the strap 4.

The decorative strap is attached to the shoe by connecting the hook 6with an eye 3 on each side of the shoe. The combination of thedecorative accessory strap 4 and elastic material 5 stretch over the topportion of the upper 2. This arrangement keeps the strap adjacent, orsubstantially adjacent the upper of the shoe without the need foradditional securing means.

The eye fastener 3 may be connected to the top portion of the sole 1before attaching the upper 2 to the sole 1 during shoe manufacture sothat the eye protrudes slightly out from the side of the shoe betweenthe sole 1 and upper 2. Placement of the fastener 3 is important toensure proper alignment of the decorative strap on the upper 2 of theshoe. The relative portions of the hook and eye may be reversed. The eyemay also be supplied as an aftermarket item and applied to the shoe witha suitable attachment means, for example sharp pointed ends that arepressed into the sole, adhesives, etc.

As shown in FIG. 2, in addition to being quite small and unobtrusive,the eyes 3 have a closed configuration so that there are no free endsthat could possibly catch on the wearer's other clothing, for examplethe leg portion of slacks. The closed configuration also prevents theeye from engaging other objects, e.g. carpeting, and being dislodgedfrom the sole of the shoe.

Unlike prior art designs, the small, unobtrusive, nature of the eyesalso permits the wearing of the shoe with no decorative strap or otherelement fastened thereto, thereby providing a simple, elegant,appearance.

The eyes may be retractable inwardly toward or into the sole, with asuitable recess being provided therefor. The retractability may befacilitated by a spring-loaded mechanism (not shown). With thismechanism, from an extended position as shown in FIG. 2, the wearerpushes the eye inwardly toward the shoe until it latches in a retractedposition, substantially flush with the outer perimeter of the sole.Pressing inwardly on the retracted eye then releases the latch such thatthe eye returns to its extended position and is ready for use. Thisalternate embodiment also prevents the eye from engaging clothes,carpeting, etc., and presents a streamlined appearance for the shoe inthe retracted position.

In another alternative embodiment, the eye may be formed from amalleable material that can be bent inwardly against the sole when notin use. For using the eye, it is simply bent outwardly to an extendedposition. In a further embodiment, the eyes may be hinged and have afolded and locked position and an extended position.

The decorative strap 4 can be made a number of ways with differentdesigns and with a plurality of different materials, such as leather,vinyl, cloth, etc. The strap may also have decorative devices placed orsecured thereon, such as, but not limited to, belts and bows. Theprovision of elastic material 5 for a particular portion of the strap isto allow the strap to stretch over the upper 2 of the shoe. The hook 6is connected to each end of the strap.

If the strap 4 is created to specific dimensions of an individual upper2 and sole 1, it may not be necessary to include the elastic material toaccommodate various shoes and shoe sizes, as the strap would besubstantially flush with the upper.

A user can buy multiple decorative straps to attach to a single pair ofshoes instead of buying multiple pairs of shoes with a different designacross the upper of each shoe. This is particularly advantageous forshoes that are relatively expensive, i.e. dress shoes, but which arenecessary in a business environment.

While an embodiment of an interchangeable, decorative strap, shoeassembly and modifications thereof, have been shown and described indetail herein, various additional changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure and theappended claims.

We claim:
 1. A shoe assembly comprising a sole and an upper forreceiving a wearer's foot, and a closed eye extending radially from saidsole on both sides thereof in the vicinity of the front of the wearer'sfoot.
 2. A shoe assembly as defined in claim 1 and including adecorative accessory having a hook at each end thereof, said hooks beingselectively engageable with said eyes for decorating said shoe assembly.3. A shoe assembly as defined in claim 1 in which said eyes arecomprised of a malleable material such that the eyes can be selectivelybent inwardly forward or away from said upper.
 4. A shoe assembly asdefined in claim 1 in which said eyes are secured between said sole andsaid upper.
 5. A shoe assembly as defined in claim 1 in which said eyesare retractably mounted in said sole.
 6. A shoe assembly comprising asole with right and left sides and an upper for receiving the foot of awearer, said sole having at least one closed eye extending radiallytherefrom on both sides of the sole, a strap having two ends and anopen-ended hook on each of said ends for engaging said closed eyes andsecuring said strap across said upper for decorating said upper, wherebysaid strap can be selectively installed and removed by the wearer.
 7. Ashoe assembly as defined in claim 6 in which said eyes are comprised ofa malleable material such that the eyes can be selectively bent inwardlyforward or away from said upper.
 8. A shoe assembly as defined in claim6 in which said eyes are secured between said sole and said upper.
 9. Ashoe assembly as defined in claim 6 in which said eyes are retractablymounted in said sole.